The St. Ambrose bowling teams journeyed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this past weekend, and they nearly made it a clean sweep. The women's squad and the men's varsity and JV squads emerged victorious.

The men were dominant in their performance, totaling 8281 pins for the five team games and 16 baker games. This was enough to lead by 362 pins over No. 2 seed Lindenwood University. Tournament host Mount Mercy earned the No. 3 seed with 7789.

In the four-team match play finals, SAU went undefeated, hanging 2-0 wins over No. 4 seed William Penn in the semifinal contest before stopping Mount Mercy 2-0 in the title battle. In the semifinal match, St. Ambrose recorded a 299 game. Seventeen varsity teams competed in the event.

The varsity men were led by Dakota Solonka, who averaged 222.2 for his five games (a 1111 total), and that was good enough for his first collegiate tournament victory. Teammate Zach Greim finished second at 1070. Other team members included William Jones (1021-five games), Nate Stubler (981-five games), Jordan Monnens (546-three games), Corey Roth (376-two games), Seth Sikkema and Anthony Mastroianni.

The men's JV team also earned a victory, beating No. 2 seed Lindenwood University 2.5-.5 in the title match. St. Ambrose recorded 7328 pins, while Lindenwood was next with 7187 and Mount Mercy third with 7064. Team members were Alex Nolan (1008-five games), Justin Aboud (951-five games), Joshua Collins (906-five games), Adam Kowalik (904-five games), Avery Wolf (525-three games), Caleb Gillmore (149-one game) and Jorell Morris (129-one game). 

The women also brought home their first championship of the season, beating No. 4 seed Culver-Stockton 2-1 in the title match. They earned a berth in the championship match by squeaking by No. 2 seed Lindenwood University 2-1. Top-seed Mount Mercy was eliminated in the first round. Thirteen varsity teams competed.

Megan Hess led the women's squad with 968 for five games (a 193.6 average). Supporting her were teammates Sarah Fox (898-five games), Kayla Devine (823-five games), Karsyn Burgess (811-four games), Tricia Alvarado (514-three games), Addy Nelson (294-two games) and Kayley Fangman (156-one game).

The women's JV squad finished sixth in a field of nine teams with a total pinfall of 6227. Sammy Upham led the way with 823 for five games. Other team members included Jackie Juett (773-five games), Kayla Lampe (674-four games), Madisyn Bradford (528-four games), Lindsey Voss (419-three games), Hailee Hospodar (289-two games) and Bailey Tripilas (242-two games).

All teams are in action in two weeks at the Leatherneck Classic in the Quad Cities. The women's varsity will be competing at Highland Park Bowl in Moline, Ill., while the women's JV will be at Hi-Five Lanes in Bettendorf, Iowa. The men's varsity will be at Big River Bowling while the men's JV will be at Leisure Lanes, both in Davenport.